Dynamic dice and method

ABSTRACT

A die and method of use include a body, generally shaped in a form of a regular polyhedron, and having an interior volume and a plurality of faces, a spherical cavity defined within the interior volume, and a sphere disposed within the spherical cavity. The method includes providing the die; placing the die in a contained volume; agitating the contained volume; and ejecting the die from the contained volume onto a substrate.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/315,827 filed Mar. 19, 2010, which is incorporated in its entirety herein by this reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to die or dice, including, but not limited to, die or dice used in various games and that have an improved dynamic erratic behavior during casting so as to heighten participant's suspense while maintaining an outcome relatively uninfluenced by die design characteristics.

BACKGROUND

Games and other activities and methods that utilize die or dice, particularly for introducing a random outcome as part of the game or activity, are known. An attractiveness of games that use die or dice is the suspense that results from the unpredictable movement and tumbling of the die after the die is cast. Different types of die that are designed to affect die movement and outcome are generally known. One type of known die is commonly referred to as a weighted or a loaded die. Such loaded die typically include the use of weights in different ways. One form of a loaded die includes fixed position weights embedded into the die face, so as to influence outcome. In another form, the die has a weight inside a non-uniform void in the die interior. While such weights can impart an eccentric wobble to the cast die, non-uniformity of the void shape by the inclusion of recesses, gutters, pockets, or catches as part of the hollow interior affect motion of the weight so as to reduce the randomness of the die roll related outcome. Thus, loaded dice generally favor certain outcomes such that specific surfaces and numbers of the dice come up more often. Besides weights, other objects or materials such as, liquid mercury, buckshot, and so forth, can also impart wobbly or eccentric motion to the die when cast. Again, any non-uniform shape of the interior void of the die, such as recesses, gutters, and so forth will influence the die outcome in a non-random manner. In addition, the interior weight itself can be designed to have a non-uniform weight distribution that further influences die roll outcome. Unfortunately, such loaded dice when cast have outcomes that are affected by the cavity's non-uniform shape as well as the form of the material inside the cavity. Accordingly, there is a need for a die when cast to have a highly erratic motion, yet overcome the problem of having an outcome overly influenced by the shape of the internal die cavity so as to produce an outcome that is a random result.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the invention provides a die that includes a body, generally shaped in a form of a regular polyhedron, and having an interior volume and a plurality of faces; a spherical cavity defined within the interior volume; and a sphere disposed within the cavity.

Another aspect of the invention provides a die that includes a body, generally shaped in a form of a hexahedron, having an interior volume and six, generally square faces; a spherical cavity defined within the interior volume and having a first surface, such that a cavity geometric center is generally coincident with a body geometric center; and a sphere disposed within the cavity and having a second surface.

In yet another aspect of the invention, a method of using a die that includes the step of providing at least one die that includes a body, generally shaped in a form of a regular polyhedron, and having an interior volume and a plurality of faces, a spherical cavity defined within the interior volume, and a sphere disposed within the cavity; placing the die in a contained volume; agitating the contained volume; and ejecting the die from the contained volume onto a substrate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a dynamic die with an interior spherical cavity in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a solid sphere for placement inside a dynamic die in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 3 is an illustration of a dynamic die cross-section in accordance with the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A die having body 10 with a spherical cavity 20 is as shown in FIG. 1. In this aspect of the invention, the die has a body 10 which has an interior volume 12. As shown in FIG. 1, the body 10 has a general shape of a cube or hexahedron having an interior volume 12 and faces 14, 16, 18 including like faces on the back side and bottom of the cube which are not visible in FIG. 1. Alternatively, the body 10 can have the general shape of any regular polyhedron such as a tetrahedron, hexahedron, octahedron, dodecahedron, icosahedron, and so forth. Such regular polyhedrons have corresponding faces that are generally regular polygons such as equilateral triangles, squares, pentagons, and so forth. The faces are flat and intersect to form sharp angles or the intersection can be rounded so as to make a smooth transition from face to face. Referring to the common six-sided die as an example, this die is a hexahedron having six faces that are squares.

The faces of the die can include indicia. The indicia can include a number, a representation of a number as in the commonly used dot (as illustrated in FIG. 1), a letter, a word, a symbol, and so forth.

Material used in the formation of the die body and/or sphere can include a wide variety of materials such as wood, plastic, metal, elastomer, and so forth. Materials of construction that are cheap and can be easily formed are of particular interest. In this regard, the invention particularly contemplates the use of plastics such as ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), a common thermoplastic, or metals such as steel. Many types of plastics and metals can be economically and easily formed or molded into a desired shape of the die or the components that are used to form the die.

A spherical cavity 20 is defined inside the die interior volume 12. While the spherical cavity location and shape can be varied, in one embodiment, the die interior volume 12 includes a spherical cavity that is centered within the die. In this regard, the die and spherical cavity can be formed so that a geometric center of the spherical cavity is generally coincident with the geometric center of the polyhedron die within reasonable manufacturing tolerances. Without being held to any specific theory, it is believed that the spherical cavity shape and location inside the die are important to a random yet erratic and eccentric behavior of the die during the casting. For example, the centering of the spherical cavity inside the die avoids undesirable biasing of cast die outcomes.

The shape of the spherical cavity is generally a uniform spherical shape such that any point on the surface of spherical cavity is generally a fixed distance from the geometric center of the spherical cavity. Generally, the geometric center of the spherical cavity is also the geometric center of the die. A uniformly spherically shaped surface does not impart motion to or impact on the motion of the internal ball or weight moving around inside the spherical cavity during die casting in a way that influences the outcome of the cast die.

A surface 22 of the spherical cavity 20 can be either smooth or have a grabbing tendency. The use of a smooth surface minimizes any resistance to movement of an object inside the spherical cavity. Such minimal resistance can produce a certain eccentric behavior of the cast die. Alternatively, the surface can be textured or have a surface layer, for example a tacky coating, such that the surface provides some resistance to ball or weight movement, which in turn produces a different eccentric behavior of a cast die. In this regard, a grabbing surface, as used herein, relates to a surface that interacts with objects that contact the surface in such a way as to have a higher frictional or adherence attraction as opposed to be a smooth or near frictionless contact.

A sphere 30 for placement inside a body 10 is shown in FIG. 2. In one embodiment, the sphere 30 is solid, such as a ball bearing or other ball type object. Typically, such solid spheres act as a weight inside the die. As shown in FIG. 2, the sphere has a surface 32, which forms a generally uniform spherical shape such that any point on the surface 32 is generally a fixed distance from the geometric center of the sphere 30. In use, the body 10 and the sphere 30 are generally in contact through at least a portion of the first surface 22 of the cavity and a second surface 32 of the sphere. As shown by the hollow arrows in FIG. 1, the direction of the motions of the body 10 and sphere 30 may differ, but these different motions interact through the contact of the first surface 22 and the second surface 32 to produce an erratic die motion. It is believed that a uniformly spherically shaped surface does not impart motion to or impact on the motion of the sphere during die casting in a specific way that influences die casting outcome. Alternatively, the surface 32 of the sphere can be a somewhat non-uniform or distorted spherical shape, such that any point on the surface 32 is not exactly a fixed distance from the geometric center of the sphere 30.

The sphere 30 has a surface 32 that can be smooth or have a grabbing tendency as with the cavity surface, as described above. Again, the use of a smooth surface minimizes resistance to movement of the sphere 30 inside the spherical cavity 20. In this situation, a free moving sphere imparts a certain eccentric behavior to the cast die. Alternatively, a surface that resists movement can produce a different eccentric behavior of a cast die through friction between the surfaces. In this regard, a surface 32, which would tend to grasp the cavity surface 22 when the surfaces contact, would produce a different erratic behavior. Such grabbing surfaces could include a surface texturing or a surface layer such as a tacky coating.

In another embodiment of the invention, the sphere 30 can be made of multiple parts or components, particularly a plurality of layers. For example, the layers can be made up of different materials such as materials having different densities, or layers applied in either a uniform or non-uniform manner, or layers being concentric or non-concentric, so as to produce different eccentric behaviors.

The material used to make the sphere 30 can be varied and include wood, plastic, metal, elastomer, and so forth. Materials of construction that are cheap and the can be easily formed are of particular interest. In this regard, the invention particularly contemplates the use of plastics such as ABS or metals such as steel. Both plastic and metals can be inexpensively formed or molded into a sphere. Alternately, common spherical items such as buckshot, ball bearings, and so forth can be used. Additionally, different types of materials or combinations thereof can be used to affect the eccentric behavior of die when cast. For example, the body 10 could be made from a relative low density plastic while the sphere 30 could be a spherical weight such as a ball bearing made of the higher density material, such as steel. Other none limiting examples of die construction include the die body made of one density plastic, the sphere made of a different density plastic, the sphere made of a combination of materials, and so forth.

A cross-section of the die in FIG. 1 having a body 10 with a sphere 30 located inside the spherical cavity 20 is shown in FIG. 3. The spherical cavity 20 has surface 22 and the sphere 30 has a surface 32. While there is really no limit to die shape or size, a common gaming die is a six-sided cube that is designed to be comfortably held in a human hand. The die size can be measured by a dimension that is the distance between opposite die faces or surfaces along a line that is normal to one of the faces and passes through the die geometric center to an opposite face or surface. Opposing die faces are those faces that are located in opposite directions from the geometric center of the die. The typical die size ranges from about 10 mm to about 50 mm. A typical value for such a distance is 18 mm. The relative size of both the spherical cavity 20 and the sphere 30 as compared to the die itself are important considerations. Generally, the ratio of the cavity diameter relative to the size of the die should be about 0.25 to about 0.90. For the example of an 18 mm die, an acceptable cavity size ranges from about 4.5 mm to about 16 mm in diameter. An 18 mm die formed of plastic having a 14 mm cavity has been successfully demonstrated to produce the desired erratic behavior during die casting. Beside the relative cavity size, the ratio of the sphere diameter relative to the diameter of the cavity should be about 0.2 to about 0.8. For the example of the 14 mm cavity, an acceptable sphere diameter would be about 3 mm to about 11 mm. Accordingly, the casting of an 18 mm plastic die that had a 10 mm metal sphere in diameter inside a spherical cavity of 14 mm successfully produced the desired erratic behavior, yet achieved a random outcome.

During operation and use of the die as depicted by the hollow arrows shown in FIG. 1, the body 10 and the sphere 30 are in motion as the die is placed in motion such as by casting the die. The motion of the sphere 30 relative to the motion of the body 10 is believed to cause the erratic behavior of the die during casting. During die casting the cavity surface 22 and sphere surface 32 come in contact in such a way as to induce a wobbly or erratic die behavior. Accordingly, the method of using the die so as to produce an erratic behavior includes placing the die in a contained volume, such as the commonly known cupped hand. For example, this can be accomplished by grasping at least one die between fingers for die placement in a hand and then loosely clasping the die in the hand formed to have a contained volume. The next steps in using the die can include agitating the contained volume, such as shaking the die in the hand that is loosely clasping the die; and ejecting the die from the contained volume onto a substrate, such as casting the die from the hand hold onto a game board. Upon contact of the cast die with the substrate, the resultant contacting of the cavity surface by the sphere causes the die to wobbly or eccentrically move so as to increase the excitement of the game being played.

While preferred embodiments and example configurations of the invention have been herein illustrated, shown and described, it is to be appreciated that various changes, rearrangements, and modifications may be made therein, without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. It is intended that the specific embodiments and configurations disclosed are illustrative of the preferred and best modes for practicing the invention, and should not be interpreted as limitations on the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims and it is to be appreciated that various changes, rearrangements, and modifications may be made therein, without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 

1. A die comprising: a body, generally shaped in a form of a regular polyhedron, having an interior volume and a plurality of faces; a spherical cavity defined within the interior volume; and a sphere disposed within the spherical cavity.
 2. The die of claim 1, wherein a first ratio of a first diameter of the spherical cavity to a dimension of the die measured between a first face and an opposing face on an opposite side of the die is about 0.25 to about 0.9.
 3. The die of claim 1, wherein a second ratio of a second diameter of the sphere to the first diameter of the spherical cavity is between about 0.2 and about 0.8.
 4. The die of claim 1, wherein the body is a six-sided cube.
 5. The die of claim 1, further comprising indicia on at least one face.
 6. The die of claim 1, wherein a geometric center of the spherical cavity is generally coincident with a geometric center of the body.
 7. The die of claim 1, wherein the body is made of a first material having a first material density and the sphere is made of a second material having a second material density, the second material density being greater than the first material density.
 8. The die of claim 1, wherein the spherical cavity has a first surface, the first surface being a smooth or a grabbing surface.
 9. The die of claim 1, wherein the sphere has a second surface, the second surface being a smooth or a grabbing surface.
 10. A die comprising: a body, generally shaped in a form of a hexahedron, having an interior volume and six generally square, faces; a spherical cavity defined within the interior volume; and a sphere disposed within the spherical cavity; wherein a spherical cavity geometric center is generally coincident with a body geometric center.
 11. The die of claim 10, wherein a first ratio of a first diameter of the spherical cavity to a dimension of the die measured between a first face and an opposing face on an opposite side of the die is about 0.25 to about 0.9.
 12. The die of claim 10, wherein a second ratio of a second diameter of the sphere to the first diameter of the spherical cavity is between about 0.2 and about 0.8.
 13. The die of claim 10, wherein the spherical cavity has a first surface, the sphere has a second surface, and at least a portion of the first surface is generally in contact with the second surface.
 14. The die of claim 10, further comprising indicia on at least one face.
 15. A method for using a die comprising: providing at least one die comprising: a body, generally shaped in a form of a regular polyhedron, the body having an interior volume and a plurality of faces; a spherical cavity defined within the interior volume; and a sphere disposed inside the spherical cavity; placing the die in a contained volume; agitating the contained volume; and ejecting the die from the contained volume. 